Three dead, three hurt in Alabama campus shooting

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A woman opened fire during a biology faculty meeting at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus Friday, killing three faculty members and injuring two other faculty members and a staff member.

The shooter was in custody, but university spokesman Ray Garner said he could not identify her or the victims. Local television stations reported she is a faculty member. No students were hurt.

Huntsville Hospital spokesman Burr Ingram said two of the injured were in critical condition and the third was in stable condition. Sophomore Erin Johnson told The Huntsville Times a biology faculty meeting was under way when she heard screams coming from the room.

The shooting happened in the university’s Shelby Center, a science building. University police secured the building and students were cleared from it. The Huntsville campus has about 7,500 students in northern Alabama, not far from the Tennessee line.

The university posted a message on its Web site Friday afternoon telling students the campus was closed Friday night and all students were encouraged to go home. Counselors were available to speak with students.

Garner said the campus was closed while police gathered evidence. He said at a news conference that the shooting was not unlike one the area experienced a week ago, when a 14-year-old student was shot to death in a middle school hallway, allegedly by a fellow student. “This town is unaccustomed to shootings and multiple deaths,” he said.